Politicians continue to discuss the request by prosecutor Yalcinkaya to the constitutional court to close the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Bahceli: Individuals rather than the whole party 

Devlet Bahceli, chair of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), said that it would be preferrable if individual party leaders and representatives were held responsible and punished rather than a whole party be closed. He called for an investigation of whether such a course would be possible.

Bahceli said that in that case constitutional amendment concerning the parliamentarians’ immunity could be considered.

He rejected the AKP’s suggestion to “limit the powers of the judiciary.”

"DTP case is different" 

As for the current closure trial against the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), Bahceli said that there “could be a different approach for the case when political parties were seen as supporting terrorism and considering it a means for their separatist aims,” which is precisely how the MHP views the DTP.

Baykal: Rift between party practices and constitution

Deniz Baykal, the chair of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the main opposition party and a staunch defender of laicism in Turkey, said at a party group meeting:

“It is impossible to greet such events with happiness. It is saddening for all of us in democracies when there is the obligation to close a political party.”

Baykal defended the actions of Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals, saying: “The prosecutor argued that he had noted that the rift between the practices of the government and the constitutional laws was too wide […]. He took it to the Constitutional Court in order that the necessary be done.”

“Let no one describe this as a conflict between law and the ‘national will.’ The national will is something else. The national will is the shared will of all the people, not the will of the majority.”

Baykal further pointed out that the AKP had not protested at the closure trial of the DTP.

Türk: AKP is only democratic when own party is concerned

Ahmet Türk, the parliament group leader of the DTP has denounced the closure request against the AKP as a “democratic scandal,” and added that the party would support constitutional amendments which would make the closure of parties more difficult.

However, Türk also accused the AKP of staying silent before: “The government stayed silent when we were attacked, but when it was faced with a closure indictment, its members turned into the greatest democrats ever.” (NZ/AG)

* This news item used information from ntvmsnbc.com and cnnturk.com.